Article

NRF's Sonic Bar highlights retailing innovations

The high-concept concept store gave attendees a taste of retail's future — one that is available today.

January 18, 2009 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Probably no segment of retail has been more besieged in recent years than music — after all, what could be easier than staying home and buying music digitally, getting it right away and never having to change out of your pajamas or face the elements?

At the NRF 98th Annual Convention & Expo, the message seemed to be this: If a great customer experience can drive people into the store to buy music, then there is no retailer anywhere who doesn't stand to benefit from improving their own.

Central to the Customer Experience Pavilion was the Sonic Bar Concept Store, a simulated music environment that may have looked futuristic but consisted entirely of technologies and techniques that are available today.

Video walkthrough: Take a tour of the Sonic Bar concept store

On one corner of the store was a large video wall, the "Virgin Theater" sponsored by Virgin Megastore, which looped through a live performance by the band WAXAPPLES. While the band played, different portions of the screens simulated an in-store social networking application that allowed people in different cities to chat with one another, via SMS, in large on-screen thought bubbles. Meanwhile, in another corner of the wall, an applause meter told the story of how popular the band's performance was in the different towns.

Around the far side, an Ecast video jukebox lured passersby with its giant, inviting touchscreen, cycling through entertainment content and Internet-connected games and promotions. A few feet away, an RFID-enabled station powered by ScentAir invited shoppers to drop their loyalty card on a reader/counter; moments later, while the computer in front of them offered various playlist and entertainment options, a tiny emitter sprayed scents that were matched to the shopper's demographic profile (i.e. one smell for reggae fans, another for jazz-heads).

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A large oval-shaped partition in the middle of the store offered up two different interactive activities, one per side. Touch TV, a Microsoft partner, showed a large-format touchscreen used for in-store merchandising and inventory extension. On the other side, Intava demonstrated a video jukebox that doubled as an assisted selling tool for products like cell phones and MP3 players.

Two particular technologies on hand might be less noticeable to the customer, but both are powerful tools in the customer experience arsenal — and both have the word "tag" in their title. Microsoft's recently unveiled Tag technology was on display in one corner of the store. The system uses colorful two-dimensional barcodes to create "hyperlinks for the real world" — that is, a tag can be created and associated with any URL, then placed on a product or environment. When a customer points his cell phone (with the free Tag client software installed) at the code, he is immediately taken to that URL on his mobile device.

On the other side of the store, First Data's GO-Tag solution was aimed at making payments quick, easy and effortless. Designed for retailers that do a lot of low-dollar transactions, the GO-Tag is a contactless payment system that can be integrated into unusual vehicles like stickers or wristbands.

Slideshow: See photos from inside the Sonic Bar

In the back of the store — behind a stand where a live DJ wore headphones and masterminded the mix — a complex monitoring system not only kept tabs on shoppers but delivered exhaustive metrics on every interaction and transaction taking place in the store. Managers can use this information to change digital merchandising options on the fly — for instance, if a certain digital product is prominently promoted on-screen but getting few clicks, he can swap it out with something more likely to generate interest.

Four new rules of retail

Richard Russo, designer of the Sonic Bar concept store, offers four rules that today's successful retailer must follow:

Understand the human element and continue to monitor it. This does not mean how often people shop, but understand the emotional reaction to something they perceive to be good or bad.
Develop a response to the customer's emotions. This is not just about a product, but rather about a whole set of imperatives that drive the customer to want a connection. Then comes the product.
Create a physical setting that endorses great experiences. This is about knocking down yesterday's old standards of doing business and reinventing a living environment for tomorrow. A retailer and their physical stores must grow, make change and respond with action.
Know your competition, but don't steal or mimic the ideas and philosophies of others.